“Yes sir,” Smith said rising and saluting.
The Colonel rose as well. “Do your people in Intel know you’ve been shanghaied?” he asked.
“I left a note. Maybe it will get delivered.”
“Secure to station.”
“Yes sir.”
Chapter 13 - Something is Wrong
“What do you mean, it’s classified? I’m an Admiral at navy Intel, and you’re telling me it’s classified!” Admiral La Force was red faced. Of all the bumbling bureaucratic nonsense.
“I’m sorry sir, that information is classified and on a need to know basis only. The orders come from the top,” said the shrill young man.
“From the top, what top?”
“I don’t know sir; that’s what I was told.”
La Force glanced over at Fitz. He calmed a bit. “Tell me son, where are you from?”
“From sir?”
“What command?” asked La Force, trying to regain composure. “I don’t recognize you. Where are you from?”
“I’m assigned to Lunar Command, sir, special detachment Theta.”
“Theta?” That told La Force volumes.
“When did you get here?”
“Just a few hours ago, sir. They set up at flight ops, and my unit was sent to guard it.”
“I see.” The Admiral motioned for Fitz to come with him as he turned away.
“Theta, sir?” asked Fitz after they were a ways down the hall.
“Detachment Theta of Lunar Command is tasked to guard Parliament and works directly under their control.”
“What, why would Parliament have their own security here?” asked Fitz incredulously.
“Why indeed, and why did they take my people without so much as ‘begging your pardon’ for the trouble they put me through?”
“What are we going to do sir?”
“I don’t know yet, but something is amiss.” Once outside, La Force pondered the problem for a moment.
“Tell you what; you go check on our operatives. Make it look like nothing is out of the ordinary, but let them know we are on our own now.”
How the heck am I supposed to do both of those?
“Yes sir. When should I contact you again?”
“In the morning, unless you find something really important.”
Fitz hated these sorts of orders. It depended on what kind of mood your immediate superior woke up in as to whether or not something was important enough to wake the boss. “Yes sir, I’ll do my best.”
“In the meantime, I’m going to find the base commander. Maybe he knows what’s going on.”
“Sir, it might be useful to check on what the Legion left behind,” said Fitz.
“Yes, if they are gone on some mission of short duration, we will find most everything in its normal place. If what I suspect is true, you will not find much.”
“What you suspect, sir?” asked Fitz, not sure of what to say next.
“I suspect someone has managed to get rid of the Legion. I think their lives are in danger.”
“Their lives sir?” asked Fitz.
“Maybe I’m just getting paranoid in my old age, but something just does not add up. Anyway, go make a recon of the place, then report to me when you’ve given the place a quick once-over. Then get over to check in on Mei Ling and Juliette.
“Be very careful. Whoever we are dealing with will stop at nothing and has enough power to wipe the Legion off the planet.”
“Yes sir, you be careful too.”
Yeah, it might be too late to be careful. With that, the Admiral was off to find the base commander.
* * * *
The base commander was still in his office. It looked like the whole place had been in a rush, but now that things had settled down, they were picking up the pieces. He stopped at the office door.
Admiral DeLorean looked up. “Why Jon, what brings you out here, not enough cloak and dagger to keep you busy?” he asked good-naturedly.
“How have you been?” La Force asked.
“Busy this afternoon.”
“Busy?”
“Yes, all of a sudden transports showed up, and they had a secret mission for the Legion. They swept them up, and off they went. These orders from the Admiralty were just dropped on my desk.”
“The Admiralty?”
“Yes, the orders said to stay out of the way, and give these people my full cooperation, so I did.”
“Do you know they brought guards from Detachment Theta?”
“Theta, Parliament, but why if this is a military operation?”
“No reason,” replied La Force.
“Therefore, the supposition is, it was not a military mission,” said DeLorean.
“That means it’s political,” said La Force. “They even took the three officers I had from the Legion assigned to me.”
“Did anybody tell you anything or ask your permission?”
“No, nothing,” replied La Force.
“What are you going to do?” asked DeLorean.
“Come to see you and hope you had answers.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m just as in the dark as you.”
“This is not good. I don’t know what they are doing with the Legion, but I doubt that there is any emergency. None of this makes any sense,” added La Force quickly.
* * * *
Fitz wheeled the little dune buggy through the Legion compound, then pulled to a stop after completing his cursory inspection, and called La Force.
“Okay, what do you have?” the Admiral asked.
“Sir, this place is a ghost town. Everything not tied down has been hauled away.”
“Understood, are you on your way to your next assignment?”
“Yes sir.”
“Drop on by when you get finished.”
“Yes sir.”
The instruction, “drop on by,” was a code the Admiral had given Fitz. It meant to come to the Admiral’s home at any hour day or night and not say too much over the com.
Something was definitely wrong, but he had to get to New Town and fast. Fitz swung out onto the road leading to New Town and floored it. He was getting to like the little dune buggy; it went like a bat out of torment.
He found Mei Ling at home. She smiled when he entered, but dropped the smile when she saw his face. He had never been much at hiding what was on his mind, and she could always read his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
So much with acting like nothing is wrong.
“What makes you think something is wrong?”
She took on that one eyebrow raised, arms crossed, jaded look women use on occasion.
“Oh, I don’t know, perhaps the way you screeched to a halt in front, or how you stormed through the door, or even the look on your face. I’ve told you before, stay out of poker games.”
“Indeed, you did. Where is Juliette?”
“She should be getting off shortly; I was about to walk down to the Purple Oyster. It’s a good place to have a few drinks and unwind. You look like you could use some unwinding.”
“Something is wrong, without any notice the Legion has been pulled off the planet, and no one knows why,” he replied.
She grabbed her wrap, and they headed for the Purple Oyster. Twice she had to slow him down. “Don’t look like you are in such a hurry. Remember this is a cloak and dagger operation.”
“Yes, dear.”
She could not help but smile at that. The streets had returned to normal. There were people wandering everywhere, in various states of intoxication.
Fitz was surprised at how he was beginning to resent the other Separatists. Most looked so pale and spindly. At least this planet was giving some of them a tan and put on some muscle. It made him less obvious
. He had always been stronger than the others, thanks to his mother’s genes.
They quickly found a table and ordered drinks. He ordered a light snack as well. This was no time to get drunk. After about fifteen minutes, Juliette showed up.
“There she is,” said Mei Ling, motioning to her.
“Hi, boy am I beat. They’ve had me running my whole shift.”
“I knew you would be along, so I took the liberty of ordering you a drink,” said Mei Ling.
“Thanks,” she said, picked up the glass, and took a long draught. “That hits the spot.”
She looked over at Fitz, “Hello Commander, you just in for a visit? Maybe not, you look serious.”
Mei Ling spoke up, “Something’s happened.”
“Something?”
“A fleet of transports swept in today and took the Legion off the planet. From what I could see of what they left behind, somebody doesn’t plan on their coming back,” said Fitz.
“Somebody?” Juliette asked.
“That’s just part of what we don’t know,” added Fitz.
“You say off the planet, the whole Legion, what about the guys working with you?”
“They’re gone too,” replied Fitz.
“Farouk?” she asked plaintively. She and Farouk had started out as a fling. He was a great dancer, and she knew he was part of the Legion just by looking at him. She had always enjoyed flaunting convention, but doggone it; the bugger had grown on her.
“Gone.”
Juliette looked away for a moment, swirling her drink.
She looked back at Fitz, her face stone. “They’re in trouble. I’ll bet you they plan to kill them, all of them.”
Mei Ling gasped and looked over at Fitz. His eyes were locked on Juliette’s.
“I may have something,” Juliette said. “Today I overheard one of the guys talking. He’s the one who keeps the grounds. He saw our dead man come back to the hotel the night before the assassination with a bag over his shoulder. He swears the outline looked like pictures he had seen of a gun.”
“A gun?” said Fitz.
“Yes, I checked the security camera when no one was looking. I got the time he left and the time he came back. He was in one of those solar powered vehicles. He had been gone for over an hour, about an hour and a half.”
“Wherever he went, he didn’t go far,” said Fitz. “Did he have the bag when he left?”
“Slide your com over here,” Juliette instructed.
He did, and the information from the security cameras transferred over to Fitz. He spent the next minutes reviewing the video. The man had left the hotel with the bag, but it appeared to be empty. He then got into a rented vehicle.
Wonder what name he used to rent the vehicle?
He quickly looked over the available information on all the businesses in New Town. There was only one place that rented such vehicles, and it had its own information page. Here he learned that forty kilometers per hour was the max speed for those things.
“It could have only gone so far,” he said at last.
“And there are only so many roads out here,” added Mei Ling. “What are you thinking?”
“Put yourself in the mind of someone planning to perform the assassination. You couldn’t just walk into town with the weapon flung over your shoulder,” he said.
“If I were going to do such a thing, I wouldn’t do it myself. Believe me, there are people around who will do that sort of work for money,” Juliette said.
“Why?” asked Mei Ling.
Juliette really had taken a liking to Mei Ling, but she had to admit, Mei Ling was a bit naive. Juliette, on the other hand, had made a point of discovering what was under the façade of Separatist culture. It wasn’t pretty. She was getting a bad feeling about this character and his part in this whole matter.
“You guys want another drink?”
“None for me,” said Fitz. “What are you thinking?”
“Just a wild guess, but for the moment let’s assume that the dead man is our assassin. He came here, checked into the hotel where I work, rented a ground vehicle, and went out to meet someone, someone with the rifle.”
“Lots of people rent a surface vehicle here,” interrupted Mei Ling. “After being stuck inside their whole lives, it is a thrill to go running around in such vehicles. I want to try it myself.”
“True, but this guy just doesn’t look like someone who comes here for relaxation. There is something I see in his eyes from the security camera; I’ve seen it before. This guy was up to no good.
“He arrives here one day and is dead within two days. He does not seem to know anyone here, nor does he work here. He really has no business here. Something just does not add up,” offered Juliette.
“You mean to say, that assassination was his business,” said Mei Ling.
“That may be it,” she replied.
“Okay, where could he have gone to get the rifle?” said Fitz.
“What I don’t understand is how you hit anything with one of them,” said Mei Ling.
“It’s not so bad once you get the hang of it,” replied Fitz.
“If he needed to know how to shoot, it might not look good for the Legion,” said Mei Ling.
Fitz looked at the video again. Eventually, he said, “It looks like he turned right out of the hotel, and there is one road out that way. People use it to ride around on the dunes.”
“You think there is something we might find out there that would be useful?” asked Mei Ling.
“Might, let’s finish our drinks and go see.”
“We’ll have to get a vehicle. Shouldn’t be too difficult right now,” added Juliette.
“I’ve already got a vehicle. Wait till you see it,” replied Fitz.
Soon they were headed down the dirt trail used by the beach buggies. Fitz kept his speed down to the top speed of the electrics.
“Okay, this is as far as he could have gotten,” said Fitz. He brought the vehicle to a stop.
“I haven’t seen any tracks going off into the dunes in a while,” said Juliette.
“Neither have I, but the wind could have erased them by now,” Fitz replied.
“Let’s start on this side,” suggested Mei Ling.
“Okay,” responded Fitz. They searched both sides for two hours slowly working their way back toward New Town. There was nothing that might be tied to the assassination.
“Aren’t we getting out a bit far?” Juliette asked.
“Maybe so, but I don’t want to miss anything,” said Fitz.
“Stop,” instructed Mei Ling. “Look over there, tracks.”
“That’s interesting,” said Fitz as they got out.
“Please be careful not to step on the tracks,” he said.
“Why are there only three of them?” Juliette asked.
“That’s interesting, all of the vehicles in town have four wheels,” said Mei Ling. “I’ve been checking out the companies who rent out vehicles.”
“Smart girl,” said Fitz.
“You’re not marrying a dummy,” teased Mei Ling.
“Yes ma’am,” Fitz responded and gave her a little hug. “I want to follow the tracks out to where they end.”
“End, what do you mean ends?” asked Juliette.
“Call me crazy, but I’ve got a hunch,” he said as he walked off. He came back shortly.
“Just as I thought, first the center wheel disappears then the other two tracks get very faint then disappear. I want to look back in this direction.”
Juliette and Mei Ling exchanged glances and fell in behind. They did not have to go far. “Look, it stopped here and swung around,” said Fitz.
“Are you getting images of all this?” asked Mei Ling.
“Yes, I think these are the landing roll, and these are the
takeoff. I’ll use the com to get the distances.”
“What good will that do?” asked Juliette.
“There are no aircraft or spacecraft on the planet that would leave such marks. However, there is a type of personal aircraft used for sport on Earth that would,” responded Fitz.
He turned to the two women. “Have either of you heard anything about a personal flying craft, anything at all?”
They thought a moment. “If someone had something like that on the planet, surely we would have seen it flying near New Town,” said Mei Ling.
“Yes, the temptation to fly over would have been irresistible,” added Juliette. “I know I would have.”
“Surely the navy knows about it if there is something that does not belong to them flying around,” said Mei Ling.
“I’m willing to bet that they don’t,” added Fitz.
“How are you going to get something like that on the planet without somebody knowing about it?” asked Juliette.
“Only someone with very high clearance could do such a thing, bring it in a container that is not checked,” said Fitz.
Then he added, “It looks as if he walked around this dune. Let’s get back in the buggy and see if we can find where he went,” said Fitz.
“You’re making the assumption it was a he,” said Mei Ling as she got in.
“Yes, you’re right, and blinding myself to possible suspects in so doing. Thank you, dear.”
The tracks gave out where the sand had been blown clean, but on the other side of the dune they picked them up again. Soon they found another set of wheel tracks back nearer the road.
Fitz brought the buggy to a stop. “Looks like this is where they met up. Careful where you step.”
They got out and carefully approached the apparent meeting spot. They were so busy looking at the ground that they did not catch sight of the containers at first.
After a few minutes, Juliette spoke up. “What are those over there?” She pointed at the containers.
“Look, farther out, there are several more,” added Mei Ling.
“Yes, I see them now. I’ll go have a look,” said Fitz.
“See these tracks,” said Mei Ling. “It’s not very clear, but it looks to me like there were two people.”
Hell Fighters From Earth Book 2 Page 11